


Expect the Unexpected

by Nuuhtella



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Infatuation, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2018-07-15 12:51:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7223068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nuuhtella/pseuds/Nuuhtella
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a confusing time for Draco Malfoy. The second wizarding war is over and he is now back at Hogwarts in order to complete his final year. His family is in disgrace as is he and his house. He can handle the hateful stares and angry mobs. What he can't handle are his growing feelings for a certain green-eyed individual. All he can think is, why him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

_The magnificent lake was completely still, free from any breeze on the unusually hot summer’s day. The grounds were also eerily silent, absent from any wildlife. As he thought more about this fact the more uneasy he began to feel. Suddenly, the temperature dropped so low that goosebumps appeared upon his bare arms. A thin v_ _eil of fog surrounded him and stretched over the vast lake. It took him a few moments to realise how strange the fog was, it certainly didn’t belong on a warm, summer’s day. Yet, neither did the cold. He turned to head back to the castle and jumped backwards as he found that he was no longer alone._

_"Pansy," he said, breathing a sigh of relief whilst clutching at his heavily beating heart. "It's only you. You frightened the life out of me.”_

_Pansy continued to stare at him, unmoving. This worried him at first until he realised it was probably some sort of joke. It wouldn’t be unlike her to do such a thing but, as the seconds stretched into minutes, it seemed to become more and more serious._

_"P- Pansy?" He stammered, warily glancing around._

_Her eyelashes fluttered as if awakening from a deep sleep, although she was standing clearly before him. Pansy narrowed her eyes slightly and then she began to speak._

_"Draco. The emerald is in the eye of the snake,” said Pansy in a dreamy voice that was not her own._

_Draco stared at her, utterly perplexed._

_"Uh, what?"_

_"The emerald is in the eye of the snake," Pansy repeated._

_The words made no sense to Draco at all. He opened his mouth to ask her what the hell she meant when she spoke again._

_"It's ok, Draco."_

_Smiling, Pansy looked past his shoulder at something that had appeared behind him._ _Draco turned uncertainly to see what it was. As he turned, he somehow found himself in a familiar room. He whirled around to ask Pansy why they were here, but she'd disappeared. He found himself alone in the room of hidden things once more, a room he never thought he'd have to step foot in again. Spotting the large vanishing cabinet that he’d fixed two years prior, Draco moved closer to inspect it._

_He thought it had been destroyed after the war though obviously, he'd been wrong. Gingerly, Draco reached out with his left hand to touch the faded wood, inspecting it more closely. It was definitely broken again and Draco was infinitely glad of that fact, although he could not completely quench the slight disappointment he felt considering how hard he had worked to fix it. He stepped backwards, a small smile playing on his lips._

_It was then that he realised, for the second time, that he was not alone. As Draco glimpsed the figure from the corner of his eye, he yelped in surprise and jumped back approximately 10 feet. He turned around to face the familiar intruder._

_"Pansy! You've got to stop-" said Draco. He abruptly cut himself off as he realised that, this time, it wasn’t Pansy._

_The grey eyes met the green. Draco’s head was full of confusion. The boy standing in front of him smiled, his eyes twinkling in the darkness. He looked much the same as the last time Draco had encountered him with his untidy black hair and horn-rimmed glasses. Harry Potter. The boy he'd loathed, admired, and envied. The person he'd tormented and bullied for years. The man to whom he owed his life and to who he was so grateful was now within touching distance of him, Draco Malfoy. Harry flashed him a wide grin._

_"Hello, Malfoy," said Harry, taking a few steps closer. “I hoped I’d find you here."_

_"You- You did?" Draco asked, confused._

_"Yeah." Harry’s grin grew wider as he closed the distance between them. "I've been wanting to get you alone for quite some time now."_

_Harry was now so close that Draco could feel the very warmth of Harry’s breath on his skin. Hesitantly, Draco took a shaky step backwards._

_"I, ah, I should probably..."_

_"Go?" Harry said, finishing his sentence for him._

_"Uh, yeah I-"_

_Harry closed the distance between them once again and put a single finger over Draco’s lips._

_"Well, I-" Draco mumbled._

_"Shhh," Harry whispered. "Don't think. Don't say anything."_

_Harry slowly moved his head towards Draco's, his lips slightly parted. Then, Draco felt the soft touch of Harry's lips upon his. Their mouths were pressed lightly together and Draco could feel Harry’s hand resting on his waist. It felt as though the feel of it would be burnt into his skin forever.  As the kiss intensified, he felt Harry's lips open-_

Draco woke abruptly, breathing heavily and drenched head to toe in sweat.

 _Shit,_ Draco thought. _What is happening to me? Why for the love of-? Why me? Why him? Oh shit, shit, shit._

_Somebody help me._

 


	2. A New Beginning?

The trunk's wheels grated against the hard, stone floor as Draco dragged it along the train station platform looking for an empty compartment. His falcon, Galen, sat wide-eyed and alert on the perch in his cage as if bracing himself against an invisible threat. Shaking his head at the loveable idiot, Draco carried on making his way down the long platform in his search. As he looked up, the small smile that had been on his lips slipped off of his face immediately. Draco was being met with furious glares from every direction, not one person attempting to hide their disdain. The emotions of the faces he passed ranged from shock to complete outrage. This had not been unexpected, due to his own actions during the past few years, though a small part of him had hoped that no-one would pay him much attention.

After all, who was he really?

With a sigh, he bowed his head and kept his eyes glued to the floor whilst shying away from the angry stares. As he approached the beginning of the next carriage he was halted in his steps as a pair of feet swung abruptly in front of him. The grudging mutters of the crowd grew louder with the new confrontation.

“How. Dare. You.” A voice filled with fury screamed. “How dare you show your face HERE? After what you- After whom _you_ served? After all the things your father did? You should be ASHAMED! I don’t want scum like YOU going to school with my child.”

Draco, keeping his head down, shuffled his position, attempting to walk past the small ferocious looking woman. This seemed to just anger her further and the woman grabbed his shoulders and shook him with such force that he dropped the cage holding Galen. The giant bird squawked and fluttered his giant wings in an attempt to upright himself. Bending down, Draco picked up the cage and tried to calm his feathered companion with soothing words. During this exchange, the angry crowd had grown louder and the woman who had approached him stood four feet away with the same furious expression etched onto her face with both fists curled into balls at her side. He looked into her dark eyes and saw no forgiveness there. The overwhelming guilt he’d been trying to keep at bay overcame him.

He didn’t want their forgiveness. He didn’t deserve it anyway.

The small woman took a step forward and the crowd followed her. Draco was immersed in a sea of angry faces with furious accusations being thrown at him from all sides. He didn’t know what to do or how to escape. A few years ago, he would have just blasted them all aside and continued walking. But that wasn’t the person he was anymore.

Not who he wanted to be.

But they didn’t know that and they didn’t care. They clearly just wanted the justice that was owed to them, even if they only had _him_ as a poor substitute. Picking up his trunk, Draco attempted to push through the crowd but hands pushed him back. All the accusations he’d put to himself were being thrown at him, laced with disgust. On his left side, he felt a small shove as one of the crowd pushed at him and soon he was being jostled around by all those surrounding him.

“OI!” A familiar voice filled with anger bellowed through the noise of the entire crowd. “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?”

The platform instantly fell silent, excepting the continuing squawks of Galen and the sound of the stationary steam engine beside them. As the crowd moved to get a better view of the newcomer, Draco’s suspicions were confirmed. Harry Potter, the green-eyed saviour of the Wizarding World, stood before him as his defender. The woman who had first approached Draco was the first to speak again.

“Getting the justice we deserve,” she yelled. Her words were greeted with a cheer of general agreement from the surrounding mass of people. “Scum like him should not be in a school environment, endangering my child. He should be locked up in Azkaban along with the rest of You-Know-Who’s followers. I thought YOU of all people would feel the same.”

“Justice?” said Harry. ” You call this _justice_? He has been tried before the courts and been dealt the justice he deserves. Who are you to decide what happens next?”

“HE MURDERED-“

“HE MURDERED NO-ONE,” Harry roared. “He was a Death Eater and he did some _horrible_ things. But he never killed and he was definitely remorseful. If your positions were reversed would you want to be treated this way?” He looked up from the woman’s eyes and spoke to the surrounding crowd. “Do you really want to sink to his level? Be better than him. Be better than what he was. Your children will be in no danger from him and that is a promise.”

Most of the faces in the crowd had turned to awe as Harry had spoken. Draco looked around and saw that, though most were still angry, he was in no danger from them now. The crowd was thinning as people moved away from him.

 _Why?_ Draco thought. _Why did Harry Potter just help him, Draco Malfoy? The boy, who had taunted him for years, hated him beyond reason, from nothing but jealousy. Why?_

Instinctively, Draco followed Harry down the platform to where he was standing with Ron and Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger. As Draco approached the black haired boy, he still wasn’t sure whether this was a clever idea or not. However, Draco was now directly behind him. After a moment’s hesitation, he sharply tapped harry on his shoulder. Harry turned around with an expressionless look on his face.

“Yes?” said Harry sounding almost bored, though there was a slight hint of actual curiosity.

His three friends, the two Weasley’s and Granger, were glaring at him from behind Harry. Draco could feel his palms growing sweatier as the tension rolled off the group, not to mention that he could still feel the angry glares of people who were passing by.

“I, er-,” Draco began, choking slightly. He gave a small cough and continued. “Potter, I just came over to thank you for what you said back there. It was very noble of you and I recognise that you did not have to do it. So, er, thank you.”

His friends shared a look between each other, somewhere between surprise and annoyance. It humoured him to watch their emotions tangle as he had said something which was clearly unexpected. Harry, however, did well to hide his surprise if he indeed had any.

“You’re welcome, Draco. But I didn’t do it for you.”

“I know. But still, thanks.”

Grabbing his trunk, Draco turned around and walked to the other end of the platform to the carriages where the Slytherin’s usually sat. Picking an empty compartment, he hauled his trunk inside, placed Galen in his cage onto the rack above the seats, and made himself comfortable for the train journey ahead.

_It’s going to be an interesting year._

 


	3. Memory Lane

The normal hustle and bustle of the platform had resumed as the station clock’s minute hand had drawn closer to its eleven-o-clock destination. Up and down the platform, his fellow students were boarding the train. He could hear the slamming of carriage doors and the loud grunts that were emitted as people hauled their heavy trunks into the luggage racks.

Ignoring all of this, Draco focused his attention on Galen. This was partially to calm the bird but, also, so he could avoid the stares and whispers of the other students who were walking past him in his empty compartment as they looked for seats. He had moved Galen from the luggage racks and down onto the seat next to him due to the continuous squawking sounds he had been making. The squawks had not completely stopped but they were becoming quieter and further and far between, though he was still visibly shaken. After the fourth time of being nipped, Draco gave up on trying to calm the bird and let his gaze wander outside the compartment window and onto the platform beyond.

He found himself staring hungrily at the parents who were hugging their children goodbye for the year. Seeing the care and worry portrayed on their faces and the way the mothers fussed over their sons as they finally boarded the train made Draco think of his own mother who, usually caring and overprotective, had recently changed for the worse. When his father had been sentenced to thirty years in Azkaban for his crimes against the Wizarding World, Draco’s mother, Narcissa Malfoy, seemed to have lost all of the fight within her.

The transformation she’d made in just a few short months had shocked Draco entirely. Once, a strong and determined, ferociously protective mother, Narcissa was now a ghost of the woman she had been. Narcissa, limp and lifeless, wandered the halls of Malfoy Manor as though in a constant dream. In fact, she hadn’t left the house in months.

Despite all of this, Draco knew with all his heart that Narcissa still loved and cared about him. But he also knew that those feelings were hidden deeply beyond the constant pain she was in. It was the same pain which had caused her to shut down so completely. Every time he looked into her eyes, Draco saw the pain embedded within them, caused by the separation from her disgraced husband and the loss of her sister which continued to haunt her. Seeing that hollow, dead look in his mother’s eyes every day turned out to be too much for Draco to handle. He was too weak to stay and watch her continue to deteriorate in front of him.

So, he had decided to be selfish. He wanted to escape. That was his main motivation for returning to Hogwarts. So he could escape, at least for the year. Draco still remembered the night he had told her that he was going and, despite his best efforts, the memory played loudly in his head for around the one-hundredth time that day.  

~P~

_The door to the study had been left slightly ajar and the flames from the magnificent fireplace were illuminating the dark corridor beyond. Draco hesitantly pushed the door open the rest of the way to find his mother surrounded by darkness. She was seated in her armchair next to the fireplace and staring deeply into the depths of the flickering flames which also happened to be the only source of light in the room. The familiar sting of pain greeted him as he saw the anguish that was etched so clearly onto her form, from the way her lips were set to the slackened pose of her fingers. Gritting his teeth, Draco forced himself to walk further into the room, despite the fact that each step felt like walking upon a hundred knives. As he drew closer to his mother, he again wondered whether she could even hear him from the dream world she seemed to have created for herself. Surely, his mother would have shown some sort of sign that she knew he was in her presence. Though, he knew that there was no rousing her from this ghostly coma. No matter how hard he tried._

_“Mother?” said Draco, tentatively calling out to her in order to announce his presence. Yet, she still did not stir._

_Clearing his throat, Draco stepped forward to stand directly in her line of sight. Draco knelt down and placed his left hand on her knee. For a minute, Narcissa continued to stare unseeingly into the orange flames without acknowledging him, unwilling to wake from her dream. Then, her eyes fluttered, her gaze coming slowly back into focus as she was dragged back into reality. Draco hated himself for disturbing her peace but the issue he needed to discuss with her just could not wait. Slowly, she lifted her gaze. The dead look she carried around was still there but, this time, she managed a small smile._

_“Draco?” said Narcissa._

_Her voice, full of surprise, came out hoarse as though she hadn’t spoken in days. Which, she probably hadn’t._

_“Yes, mother. It’s me.”_

_“How are you today, darling?” Narcissa asked tiredly, without any real interest._

_“I’m okay thanks, Mummy. How are you?”_

_“Oh, I’m fine, just fine. Where’s your father? He needs to write to the minister again about that Mudblood in your school.”_

_Her eyes narrowed and she looked around the rooms as though expecting his father to appear at any moment._

_“Mother…”_

_His voice trailed off._

_“Also, Severus should be coming around soon for dinner, yes. We have much to discuss with him, your father and I. And look at the state of this place. It’s filthy! We shall have to make sure Dobby deals himself some extra punishment later. Dobby! Dobby! Dobby, come here-“_

_“Mother, stop. Dad’s not here. Remember?” The confusion in her eyes compelled him to continue. “He was sentenced to Azkaban, for murder amongst his other war crimes. Also… Professor Snape isn’t coming to dinner Mummy. Not tonight, not ever. He’s dead. The Dark Lord killed him. I’m sorry but, do you remember now?”_

_The truth of his words seemed to pierce through her, as they did every time he had to repeat them. Her face showed the same intense pain that resurfaced as it always did whenever she remembered what had happened almost four months earlier. Her eyes shone with fresh tears which threatened to escape at any second. Although she had this reaction almost every time, it still scared him beyond words and made him hate himself a little more each time._

_“Mummy, it’s okay, calm down. You’re safe. Don’t worry.”_

_These were the same words he repeated each time this had happened. Narcissa’s eyes grew intently focused on his face, studying everything about him as though drinking him in. Suddenly, her face broke into a huge smile._

_“I still have you at least,” she said, lightly stroking his cheek._

_“Uh, Mummy...” Although his decision was made, in that moment he wavered in the weakness of this new hurdle. “The thing is…”_

_“Yes, Draco?”_

_“I’m going back to Hogwarts.” The words had escaped his lips before he had even realised what he was saying. “Well, what I mean is that they’re giving me a chance to start over, Mother. And- and I really think that this will be good for me. Last year I didn’t even end up taking my examinations and I need the qualifications. I need to make a future for myself, Mummy. I need to get away from this whole- I mean, it’s just so hard living here and… and… Please say something, Mummy.”_

_It seemed like an age had passed before she answered and even then her voice was barely audible._

_“You… are… leaving me?”_

_Narcissa had dropped his hand and had folded both of her hands into her lap. Her body began to shake and her eyes glistened, filled with tears that threatened to overflow. Draco was horrified at her reaction, knowing he was the cause of her pain._

_“Mummy, please don’t cry. I’m sorry I just- I have to do this. I need this.” Her wide-eyed gaze was slowly drifting back towards the fireplace. “Mother, listen to me. I need to finish school so I can get somewhere in life. Make something of myself that wasn’t just handed to me at birth. At the moment I have is this huge black cloud over my head and I’m drowning, Mummy. I’m drowning in it. I’ll write to you all the time and we’ll see each other in the holidays and- and…Mum… Mum… Mummy?”_

_Narcissa had resumed her original state. Her head was cocked to the side and rested upon the back of the arm-chair. Her hands grasped the arm-rests and her eyes stared intently back into the fire. The vacant expression was slowly expanding across Narcissa’s face as she began to lose consciousness with reality once again._

_“Mummy?”_

_Desperately, Draco hoped he hadn’t lost her again, but he knew in his heart that she was gone._

_“Draco, it’s fine, really. You go and do well. I’ll be here.”_

_Her voice had adopted that same dreamlike quality that made you realise she was no longer present in the room. Bowing his head in defeat, Draco stood up intending to leave the room. He paused at the large wooden door. He turned his head slightly to the side without completely looking back._

_“Goodbye, Mother.”_

~P~

He was wincing slightly from the pain of the memory. Draco sighed and tried to wipe it away from his thoughts. In order to distract himself, he checked the clock on the platform again. Three minutes to go until the train finally left. He tried to will time to fast forward. At that precise moment, he heard a gaggle of girls making their way down the train, obviously looking for an empty compartment. As they reached him, the entire group dropped their voices to whispers and noticeably slowed their pace, probably in order to get a good look at the student Death Eater. Forcing himself to ignore them rather than blast them apart, Draco looked again at the clock and was relieved to see they had less than a minute to go.

Thirty seconds…

Twenty seconds…Ten…

Five…Four…Three…Two…

One.


	4. The Feast

Some of the tension Draco had been feeling over the last few months disappeared as the train sped away from London and towards Hogwarts. Being able to make the choice to leave his home and continue his education was freeing. This little measure of control in his life had finally stopped Draco from feeling as though he were drowning. He was now finally able to tread the water instead of being consumed by it.

As soon as they were underway, Draco unlatched Galen’s cage and let him out so he could roam the compartment. The bird sat apprehensively upon Draco’s shoulder, clearly still not over the ordeal on the platform. In an attempt to calm him, Draco fed Galen a few treats while speaking soothing words of comfort and stroking his silky, copper-coloured feathers. It was a few moments before Draco realised that there was somebody standing in the doorway of his compartment.

“Blaise,” said Draco, alarmed. “What on earth are you doing here?”

The handsome form of Blaise Zabini was leaning against the frame of the open compartment door. Blaise was smirking mischievously down at him.

“The same as you, I imagine,” Blaise replied. “I’m finishing off my final year. Well, repeating would be more accurate.”

The two young men appraised each other for a few seconds more before both of them began to grin. Draco stood up with Galen still perched precariously on his shoulder, and greeted his old friend with a long hug. After stowing Blaise’s trunk up in the luggage rack and letting his owl, Melusina, free of her cage, the two boys made themselves comfortable and began catching up on everything that had happened since they had last spoken. Not soon enough, the lunch trolley appeared and they enjoyed a lunch consisting of homemade sandwiches, pumpkin pasties, and an assortment of sweets.

“So,” said Blaise. “Do you plan on taking the same subjects as last year?”

“Yep,” said Draco. “I don’t see any sense in changing them now. You?”

“Not sure. I was musing over the possibility of changing from Charms to Astronomy more recently.”

“Fair enough. Wasn’t charms your mother’s choice regardless?”

“Yes,” Blaise replied. A dark expression darted across his face. “What do you think McGonagall is going to be like as headmistress?”

Draco knew that this sudden change in conversation meant that the topic was closed.

“I think McGonagall will be a damn sight better than Dumbledore was, you know how I felt about the man. Though, I do wonder who will get her job,” said Draco. “Nobody could be worse than that Lockhart fellow though.”

“True. Very true.” Blaise laughed. “So,” said Blaise after a short pause. “That scene on the platform was really something.”

Draco shifted uncomfortably in his seat and gazed out the window, seemingly immersed in the rolling hills and beautiful scenery they were passing by.

“You saw that?” Draco muttered.

“Yeah,” Blaise replied. “Sorry for not stepping in but, you know how it is…”

The rest of his sentence was lost but Draco understood. _You just didn’t want to have them turn on you._ The thought was laced with bitterness. Yet, he also understood. Had Draco been in Blaise’s position he probably would have acted in the exact same manner. Neither of them were heroes and it was pointless to pretend to be.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Draco.

The rest of the journey passed rather quickly, despite the stares and whispers of their fellow students as they passed by their compartment. Draco was confused as to why people were so interested in them. They were probably the two most unpopular students in the school. Soon, the sky outside began to darken as they neared the castle. Both of them took this as their cue to change into their school robes, knowing that they were nearing their destination. Draco, however, found changing in front of Blaise slightly uncomfortable due to the tattoo emblazoned upon his left forearm. He attempted to hide the mark from Blaise’s view, paling slightly in shame and embarrassment.

“You don’t have to hide it from me, Draco,” said Blaise. “I have no right to judge you.”

“It’s not that it’s just…”

Draco’s voice trailed off, unsure of how to phrase his feelings.

“What?” said Blaise.

“Don’t worry about it.” He pulled his robes over his head and turned back to his friend. “I think we’re nearly there.”

The two of them shut Galen and Melusina into their cages and waited for the train to come to a full stop. After they gathered their things, Draco and Blaise exited the train and walked towards the school carriages that were being pulled by the great-winged, skeletal looking horses called Thestrals. In previous years, not many students could see them. Now, there weren’t many students who couldn’t see them. Ignoring the stares and whispers of their fellow students, Draco and Blaise climbed into the nearest carriage and set off towards the castle gates. The two of them continued to be subject to glares and mutterings as they passed through the entrance hall and made their way to the Slytherin house table. However, a few minutes later they were all but forgotten when the group consisting of some of the heroes in the battle of Hogwarts entered the great hall to tumultuous applause.

“Typical,” said Blaise.

“Yeah,” said Draco, barely paying attention to him.

As his mind was focused on watching the events over at the Gryffindor house table, Draco did not realise that somebody had sat next to him.

“Hello, Draco,” said a soft voice to the left of him.

Startled, Draco looked towards the newcomer and found himself face to face with a few more of his old friends.

“Daphne… Lila… I had no idea you were returning,” said Draco.

He gave both of them a brief hug.

“Yes, well you wouldn’t. Seeing as you didn’t bother to keep in touch with any of us over the summer,” said Daphne haughtily with one eyebrow raised.

“Sorry.”

“I bet,” said Lila, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Nerissa and Scarlett are back too. They’ll arrive in a few moments, I suppose.”

“I never thought so many of us would want to return,” said Draco. “Is Pansy here?”

There was no mistaking the tinge of hope in his voice. The two girls shared a look with one another that Draco did not understand. Before they had a chance to respond, however, Nerissa and Scarlett joined them and they were accompanied by Fergus Cowley. Almost the instant the group had finished greeting the new arrivals, and they had all sat back down, the doors to the great hall swung open and in marched professor Hagrid. He was closely followed by a long line of pale and slightly frightened looking first years. Hagrid plonked the wooden stool he was carrying onto the stone floor, placed the old sorting hat on top of it, and took a step back.

As per usual, the hat twitched and the rip near the brim opened to form a mouth. Draco enjoyed watching the reactions of the newest students as the hat began to sing, barely paying attention to the song. While he stared at the first years, Draco realised that the pool of new students seemed to be drastically reduced than it had been in the previous year’s he’d been at the school. Not wanting to dwell on that fact for long, he continued to watch the hat until it finished its song. Though he still did not take in the words it was singing.

The sorting then began and one by one the students filed up to don the old hat. A few of them were shaking from head to toe, although nerves were understandable when the entire hall’s attention was placed solely on them. When the first Slytherin was announced, Draco cheered with the rest of his table. However, he realised that his cheering was perhaps not as enthusiastic as it once would have been. He shared a grin with Blaise when one of the first years accidentally tripped over his robes in his eagerness to reach the stool, and a ripple of laughter sounded throughout the hall. The small boy, Ignatius Dringle, was sorted into Slytherin and Draco gave him a small smile of reassurance when he sat down. Finally, the sorting was over and Professor McGonagall stood up to address them all.

“Good evening to you all, and welcome back to another year at school. There are a few notices that I would like to get through, but those can wait until after the feast,” said McGonagall, her voice ringing throughout the room. She clapped her hands twice and the golden plates in front of them filled with every kind of food imaginable. “Enjoy.”

Draco filled his plate and fell ravenously upon his food, not realising until that moment how hungry he actually was. The group around him kept up a steady flow of conversation, laughing and enjoying themselves as they normally would, completely forgetting the animosity of the other students. Then again, Draco noticed that not many of them were paying the Slytherins any attention at all. Caught up in the atmosphere, Draco didn’t initially realise when their new headmistress had gotten up to speak again. McGonagall stared around the room until she had achieved absolute silence.

“Once again, a very good evening to you all. Now that we have all been sufficiently dined, I have a few start of term notices to announce.” McGonagall paused, surveying the room. “As a student of Hogwarts School, I expect nothing but your best behaviour throughout this new school year. It is essential that mistakes of the past are forgiven and that we look only to our future.” Her eyes lingered upon the Slytherin table as she said this, though Draco knew that this request would be a hard one for his fellow students to comply with. “I would also like to reiterate that there are parts of the school which are still being rebuilt, and so are unsafe. Therefore, those areas are out of bounds for the foreseeable future, as is the Forbidden Forest - I need not remind you.”

Draco watched Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger smirk at one another before he turned back to focus his attention on McGonagall. Looking at the staff table, he could clearly see the new appointments and wondered what subjects they would be teaching. As though she had read his mind, McGonagall began to speak again.

“I would also like you to welcome our new Muggle Studies teacher, Professor Holly Claxon, who will be taking over Charity Burbage’s position.” A painful memory seared through Draco’s mind at the mention of the name. “And Professor Jerimiah Higgins will be joining us as our new part-time Transfigurations teacher. I shall be continuing to take classes this year, after which Professor Higgins will take up the post full-time.” There was an outbreak of muttering at this that was soon quelled by the look their new headmistress gave them. “We have also acquired a new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Veronica Delguine. Although, it is important to note that Professor Delguine will only be staying a term of two years, during which guest teachers will be taking over her classes from time to time. I am also delighted to announce that my post as head of Gryffindor house will now be filled by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid.”

The last announcement was met with a roof-raising applause from the Gryffindor table. When the noise had subsided Professor McGonagall paused for a moment more while she surveyed the room. Suddenly, her facial expression had turned sombre and Draco had a feeling for what was coming next. Not wanting to be assaulted by the hoard of troubling memories, he attempted unsuccessfully to block out the words his headmistress next spoke.

“It has been a tragic time for most of us over the past few years. Many of us have lost people of whom we loved and cared for. It is them we must remember. It is them we must honour. Let us now take a moment of silence to think about all those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of all of us in this very room.”

The entire hall fell silent and Draco, not daring to breathe, stared unblinkingly down at his own hands, crushing them together in an attempt to dull the pain. Visions of all the horrors he’d seen flashed before his eyes. He remembered seeing the rows of dead he’d once known, the screams of innocents and the sounds of their deaths. Draco squeezed his eyes shut in the hope that the visions would subside.

“Thank-you for that,” said Professor McGonagall. Her voice brought him mercifully back into the present. “Now, would you please all leave the hall in an orderly fashion and retire to your dormitories. You will all need to be well rested for your lessons tomorrow. Goodnight.”

The sound of benches scraping against the stone floor filled the room alongside chatter from every direction. Draco sat, glued to his seat, still deeply affected by the headmistress’s speech. Slowly, he got up and followed Blaise and the others across the entrance hall and down to their common room in the dungeons. As he crossed the hall, however, a large Gryffindor boy purposely banged his shoulder into Draco’s with an expression of deepest loathing. His fingers tingled. He wanted so badly to reach for his wand. And yet, Draco merely sighed and continued on down the stone steps.

“Polyjuice Potion,” said Nerissa. “One of the Viande twins told me.”

They stepped into the common room and bid goodnight to the girls before climbing their staircase. Upon reaching their dormitory, the three boys quickly undressed for bed. They chatted animatedly between one another, though Draco continued to not say much throughout this exchange. He was still thoroughly shaken by the day’s events and McGonagall’s speech.

“Hey,” said Fergus, interrupting his thoughts. “Why aren’t you in a single room this year, Malfoy?”

“Well I doubt that I’m a Prefect anymore,” said Draco.

“Ha! Oh yeah.” Fergus grinned while Blaise chuckled from his bed. “Wonder what tomorrow’s going to be like.”

Draco made a non-committal grunt and turned over in his bed, leaving Fergus and Blaise to continue their conversation. They soon stopped talking and Draco could hear the steady breathing and snoring that suggested that the two of them had succumbed to sleep. Draco closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to overtake him.

That was the first night he dreamed of Harry Potter.


	5. A Strange Dream

_Darkness._

_All he could see was darkness._

_It completely surrounded him. Whatever direction he turned, whatever way he looked, all Draco could see was a deep, unyielding blackness. It occurred to him that he had never seen true darkness until that moment. Draco could not even see his own hand in front of his face, though he knew it to be there since he could feel it there as well as the slight breeze caused by waving it. For a moment, he was truly scared._

_Draco moved forwards and could hear the sound of his footsteps echoing around the walls. At least he now knew that there were walls. As he took that first step, he noticed a dim yellowy-white light appear up ahead. Unthinkingly, Draco hurried towards it, picking up his pace with each step. Yet, the light seemed to move further away at the same pace. Draco panicked and ran full speed forwards, trying desperately to catch up with it. He had a feeling that it was his salvation.  At that moment, the light disappeared before him._

_“No!” Draco screamed._

_The sound of his voice seemed to trigger something and the light raced towards him. Voices began to whisper to him from within the light. Suddenly, Draco was utterly terrified. That yellowy-white light was no longer comforting but hostile, and he knew that he should stay as far away from it as possible. Draco turned on the spot and sprinted back towards the darkness in sheer terror._

_Anything would be better than whatever lay waiting for him beyond that light._

_Before he had taken two steps, the light had consumed him. Draco found himself standing in the exact same spot he had been standing in that very morning on the station platform. Except, this time, he stood completely alone. The strange thing was that the voices he had heard before were still there, and they were louder than ever. Just as Draco finished that thought, an angry mob of people appeared out of nowhere and surrounded him. This time he did not have Galen for comfort._

_It was the same angry woman who first stepped forwards again. Except, as she stepped forward she revealed a horrible sight that was concealed behind her. Bodies of those he cared for and loved were piled on the floor, blood oozing from their wounds. They were clearly dead. Draco recognised his Auntie Bella, Crabbe, his father, and, most painfully, his mother._

_“NO!” Draco cried out, dropping down to his knees._

_The woman began to laugh, a horrid cackle that chilled him right to the bone. The rest of the crowd soon joined in and advanced upon him, punching and kicking every part of his body they could reach._

Help me. Somebody. Anybody.

_At that moment, Draco felt a warm hand wrap itself around his upper arm. It yanked Draco upright and abruptly pulled him out of the crowd. After a few, short steps the person released Draco’s arm, only to grab hold of his now exposed hand. His saviour dragged Draco along the platform, walking along beside the gleaming scarlet steam engine that he had not noticed until that point. The yells and curses of the mob behind them could still be heard as they pursued the two of them. It was then that Draco thought to look towards his saviour, only to be met with a feeling of dread._

_“It’s you,” said Draco, alarmed._

_Harry Potter merely glanced at Draco in response. He had an unfamiliar wicked gleam in his emerald eyes. He gave Draco a small smile and continued to drag him down the platform. For a moment, Draco was reassured. Then the train began to move. Without saying a word, Harry wrenched open the nearest train door and shoved Draco on board. The train was picking up speed and the angry throng was gaining on them. Seizing his chance, Draco clung to the edge of the door and held his hand out towards his saviour._

_“GRAB ON!” Draco shouted._

_For a moment, Harry tried to grab for Draco’s hand and managed to get a hold of it. Yet, unexplainably, with one last smirk, Harry let go of the hand Draco was holding and let himself be engulfed by the crowd behind them._

_“NOOOOOOOOO!”_

Draco woke abruptly, drenched head to toe in sweat. The morning sunlight shone dimly into the dormitory and the other two were pulling on their clothes. Neither of his dorm mates seemed to notice anything was wrong with him, thankfully. Although, Blaise did give Draco an odd look before heading down to the common room which made him wonder whether his friend did suspect something after all.

Stripping off his pyjama top, Draco strolled over to the basin and splashed his face with some cool water. He let the droplets roll down his chest before picking up a towel and drying off. Draco donned his clothes without haste, reluctant to be greeted by the venomous whispers and stares he knew would accompany breakfast. On top of that, Draco couldn’t help but dwell on his dream. Why on earth would Harry ‘the Chosen One’ Potter want to help him, even within a dream. More importantly, he was confused as to why he _desired_ Harry’s help so completely.

Draco tried to put the thought out of his mind to no avail. He sighed, grabbed his school bag, and headed down the stairs to the common room where he found Blaise sat waiting for him.

“What took you so long?” said Blaise, eyes narrowing.

Draco merely shrugged in response at which Blaise rolled his eyes and the two boys walked in silence towards breakfast. As soon as they sat down, Blaise’s attention was claimed immediately by some of their fellow seventh years, leaving Draco to brood in silence. The dream troubled him greatly. He hadn’t had dreams like that since-

_No, don’t dwell on that._

It was especially strange of how vivid the dream was. Draco couldn’t help but wonder why it was _Harry Potter_ he was dreaming of. And, more importantly, wondered why this was happening to him. It could just have been because Harry had saved him earlier that day, in a manner of sense. In fact, that was definitely the reason. Draco smiled to himself, slightly appeased by this realisation. By the end of breakfast, the dream was all but forgotten and as he walked to his first lesson of the day there was a slight weightlessness to his step.

~P~

The first few weeks passed as a blur. Draco and many of the other students whose family members were on the wrong side of the war still suffered from the whispers and stares of their fellow students. A few altercations instigated by those who had lost family members in the war occurred more frequently within the first few weeks, including against one first year boy whose uncle had been one of the Death Eaters. These soon died out, though the glares and whispers did not. Draco himself barely noticed any of the other students, other than his intimate group of Slytherin friends. Most of the Slytherins kept to themselves, though some of the younger snakes had initiated friendships with those from other houses.

Week to week, Draco attended his classes, did his homework, and played Quidditch. He fell back into the familiar routine far better than he had expected. For the first time in months, he was somewhat happy and Draco planned to hold on to that with everything he had.

Come November time, Draco had settled completely back into his old life. He had made sure to write his mother a weekly letter so that she knew he hadn’t forgotten her. Narcissa, however, had yet to respond to a single one. Draco also wrote the occasional letter to his father, but he could not actually bring himself to send them for reasons that he couldn’t explain.

For the most part, he distracted himself through his lessons and personal study. It was hard to think about much else when focusing on the exact correct way to extract the venom from a Doxy. Though the whispers and stares did not stop, they had died down considerably which pleased him greatly.

On this particular day, Draco was halfway towards his Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson when he remembered that he had left his textbook back in his dormitory. With a sigh, he turned to make the journey back to retrieve it. As he entered the classroom, a full five minutes late, Draco was greeted by a scene which confused him greatly.

At the front of the classroom stood Professor Delguine, holding her things as though she were about to leave. That was not the strange part as they had already had several guest lecturers in that term. No, the strange part was that a little way behind her stood a person he had never thought to see in that castle again.

Harry Potter.


	6. First Lesson

Time stopped.

Draco stood in the doorway, frozen to the spot. His breathing became shallow and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He wondered how nobody else could hear his heart beating. It was thumping so loudly that Draco was sure that it would soon jump from his chest. A thousand thoughts streamed through his mind all at once, though he couldn’t focus on even one.

Fear and confusion overwhelmed him and, for some reason, he just couldn’t tear his gaze from Harry’s face. No matter how much he wanted to. It was as though he were entrapped in some sort of enchantment. His only desire at that moment was for Harry Potter to turn his head and look at him. Just to look at him. As soon as the words formed in his mind, those emerald eyes flicked up to meet his own.   

“Mr Malfoy,” said Professor Delguine, her voice breaking the spell. “Thank you for joining us.”

Draco seized the opportunity to tear his gaze away from Harry’s. His face was burning with embarrassment. He mumbled an apology before slumping down into his seat.

“Well, I think that’s all you need from me,” she continued. Professor Delguine nodded at her bespectacled colleague. “Over to you, Mr Potter.”

With a flourish of her wand, Professor Delguine swept from the room followed by several of her books which were bobbing along in her wake. Draco’s eyes followed her as she left the room, not deviating until the door snapped shut. Slowly, while keeping his head down, Draco directed his gaze towards the front of the classroom.

Harry had already begun talking, though Draco hadn’t heard a single word. For the rest of the lesson, Draco kept his eyes directed down towards his notes and attempted to pay attention as much as he could, though he found it agonizing. Merely the sound of Harry’s voice caused Draco to feel a stab of guilt to his heart, punctuated by every word.

The rest of the two hours passed excruciatingly slowly. By the time the bell rang, Draco felt completely drained of energy. As soon as he heard the familiar shrillness of the bell he was the first out of the door. Draco raced along the corridors and down the many stairs, pushing past people in his haste to get to the dormitory. Draco slammed the door behind him as soon as he arrived and locked it with a simple spell. He threw his school bag into the corner of the room and the contents spilled everywhere.

“ARRRRRRRRRGH,” Draco screamed in frustration and manically clutched at his hair. He grabbed his wand and pointed it at nothing in particular. “REDUCTO!”

Slowly, Draco lowered his wand and let it fall to the floor with a resounding clatter. He dropped to his knees as his sudden burst of anger slowly faded away. Gradually, he got his breathing back under control and heaved himself back onto his feet. Looking around the room, Draco assessed the damage he had caused and found that the floor-length mirror which hung beside his wardrobe had been completely shattered. He picked his wand up from where it lay and repaired it with a quick spell before flopping face-forward onto his four-poster bed. He slowly rolled onto his back.

 _Why me?_ Draco thought desperately to himself. _Why do these things_ continue _to happen to me? I should not be having this much of a reaction to_ Harry Potter _. It can’t still be guilt, can it? Get a grip, Malfoy. Imagine what Mother and Father would say- … Father…._

His thoughts trailed off into nothingness and Draco gazed up at his green, silk hangings, completely lost to the world. At that moment, he heard the handle of the dormitory twist fruitlessly against his spell, swiftly followed by somebody loudly banging their fist against it.

Draco lazily pointed his wand towards the door.

“Alohamora,” he muttered.

The door burst open and Blaise sauntered into the room, his hand clutched tightly around his wand. His piercing eyes briefly found Draco before they quickly surveyed the room. Draco watched as Blaise’s gaze lingered on the contents of his school bag which had spilled all over the floor.

“You missed potions,” said Blaise finally.

“Yeah. I, er, lost track of time,” said Draco.

“Sure.”

 “It’s true,” Draco snarled, immediately fired up.

“Whatever. Just, don’t lock us out in future. This is not only _your_ room, Daddy’s boy.”

“You don’t have to remind me. I know.”

With one last scathing look, Blaise flung his school satchel onto his own four-poster bed and stalked back out of the room. Draco was shaking with anger. He knew his reaction was slightly irrational, but he couldn’t seem to control it. Both of his hands had curled into tight fists and his head was pulsating with rage. In one fluid motion, he was on his feet. Draco marched out of the room, slamming the door behind him, went through the common room and stormed out into the maze that was the school dungeons.

For a while, his head was full of nothing but fury over the entire incident. He found himself milling aimlessly around the halls, not caring where his feet were taking him. As he turned another corner, the sound of voices originating from behind door brought him back to his senses. Not wanting to encounter anybody, Draco dashed into a nearby empty classroom. It was then that it suddenly occurred to him that he was in the room directly opposite Professor Slughorn’s office. Edging closer to the crack in the door, Draco began to listen to the voices emitting from behind the office door. To his horror, he realised that he recognised the other person’s voice.

“… I see, I see. Well, Harry m’boy. It’s been wonderful seeing you again,” said Slughorn.

“And you, Sir,” said Harry. “Goodbye, Prof- … Horace.”

“That’s the ticket. Farewell, m’boy. Until next time.”   

The door of the Potion Master’s office creaked loudly as it opened. Draco quickly retreated further into the darkened classroom and hid behind a pile of unused desks. He twisted his hand nervously around the end of his wand as lay in wait for the coast to be clear. Footsteps that were presumably Harry’s echoed on the stone floor as he hurried off towards the upper floors. Draco felt an odd sense of relief as he listened to the footsteps fade quickly away. It felt as though a vice around his chest had suddenly been released, but he hadn’t noticed the tightness until after it had disappeared. Draco took a huge, calming breath as he tried to get his breathing back under control after having unconsciously held his breath for so long.

Suddenly, Draco’s thoughts snapped into focus and the solution to his problems appeared within his mind. Draco swept from the room and rapped urgently upon Professor Slughorn’s office door. He pushed open the door as soon as he heard the barely audible ‘come in’ and stood nervously in the doorway.

“Mr Malfoy. Lovely to see you, dear boy,” said Professor Slughorn, surprise colouring his voice. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Slughorn was unsuccessfully attempting to mask his curiosity.

“I’ve come to speak to you concerning the matter we discussed several times via owl before the school year had begun.”   

“Ah, yes. Do go on.”

“Would that offer still be available?”

Professor Slughorn pursed his lips.

“How about we enjoy a glass of Oak Matured mead before we continue, eh?”

Not waiting for Draco’s reply, Slughorn gave a wave of his wand and a tray carrying two glasses and a bottle of mead landed with a soft thud upon the table between them. Slughorn promptly filled both glasses with a generous measure and handed one to Draco while keeping the other for himself. He raised his glass towards Draco with a small nod of his head and then took a huge sip, smacking his lips heartily with appreciation afterwards.

Wanting to get Slughorn in a good mood, Draco followed suit. He found the mead surprisingly good considering it was not the top quality stuff he was used to. For a few moments, they sat in a brooding silence, each appraising the other carefully. Draco’s cheeks turned slightly pink under the intensity of Slughorn’s gaze as he waited for his professor to finally speak. There was something hidden in the back of the man’s eyes that seemed similar to fear, but Draco did not understand it. This was because it was not a fear _of_ him but rather a fear _for_ him.

“So,” said Slughorn. “How have you been getting on?”

“Not too badly I suppose,” said Draco.

“Good, good. Are your lessons going well?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Wonderful. I had hoped that was the case, seeing as I haven’t seen you outside of the classroom for quite a while. That’s three meetings you’ve rescheduled now. However, hearing how well you’re getting on does make me wonder … why do you want to revisit that, er, particular subject? I had thought that the issue was closed?”

“It was.”

Draco paused as he thought about the best way to continue.

“Has something… changed, perhaps?” said Slughorn.

“I suppose, in a way, it has. I’m just not entirely sure that the shared dormitory situation is appropriate for my situation.”

Slughorn took another deep swig of his drink.

“Although I do understand and sympathise with you, the situation is slightly more complicated now. I offered you one of the individual rooms at the beginning of the school year and if you had accepted then all would have been fine. However, to allow you to change your mind now may make it seem as though you are receiving preferential treatment to the other students. So you can see my predicament.”

“Yes,” said Draco, the disappointment coursing through him.

“Give me some time to think it over and perhaps discuss it with Professor McGonagall. Then I shall give you my answer.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Draco placed his now-empty glass on to the table before standing up.

“Yes, yes. It’s getting late. We’d both best be off to bed.”

“Goodnight, Sir.”

“Goodnight, Draco.”

The corridors were deserted on his way back, which suited him very much. It was only at these rare times that he was truly free from the scrutiny of his fellow students. Too soon he had arrived at the entrance to the common room. However, he walked in to find that it was mercifully empty. As he didn’t particularly feel like catching Blaise awake after their earlier altercation, Draco sunk into one of the handsome leather armchairs beside the fireplace.

With a flick of his wand, the dusty bottle of Ogden’s Firewhisky he had hidden behind a loose brick in the stone wall zoomed towards him. It settled itself on the small table beside his chair and Draco leaned over to pick it up. He grabbed a spare glass from the nearby cabinet and poured himself a decent measure. He drained the glass in one and filled it again. Draco absentmindedly tapped the side of the glass with his fingers as he stared thoughtfully into the dancing flames.

 _If all goes well_ , _I may be able to get through the year with my sanity intact after all._

Slowly, Draco finished his second glass, hid the bottle back behind the brick, and made his way up to bed. Blaise and Fergus were both fast asleep by the time he had arrived, leaving Draco to his own devices. He quickly undressed and got into bed and, as soon as his head hit the pillow, fell into a dreamless sleep.

Draco rose early the next morning, well before either of the other boys, and dressed quickly before heading down to breakfast. His first hour was another Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson and Draco had a sneaking suspicion that Harry would be leading the class once again. Although he wanted to, missing it was out of the question. This was partially because he needed to keep on top of his studies, but mostly because he didn’t want to lose face.

When the bell finally rang, Draco reluctantly made his way towards the classroom. He settled in a seat in the back row and took out his books. At the front of the room, Professor Delguine was chatting with Harry. When the entire class had arrived, she gave a quick farewell before leaving the classroom.

Harry began the lesson and, again, Draco attempted to avoid looking at him as much as possible. The two times he did chance a glance, it took him a while to be able to look away again. When the bell finally rang, it was like music to Draco’s ears and he quickly gathered up his things. Just as he reached the open door, a voice behind him called out and stopped him in his tracks.

“Draco, can I have a word?”


	7. Moving On

“Draco, can I have a word?”

The words rang through the air long after the last syllable had been uttered. Draco stood frozen to the spot, leaving the rest of the class to walk around him. Slowly, he turned around to find Harry Potter appraising him, flanked either side by Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood. He stiffened, unsure of what to expect, although the tension was now so high that he could feel it vibrating through the room.

At first, Draco tried to avoid Harry’s eyes, frightened of what he would find there. However, Draco decided to chance a look in order to discern what sort of mood he was in. Harry was surveying Draco as though he were an interesting object of some kind which greatly unnerved Draco. After a few moments, Harry turned his attention to the others.

“Look, do you mind leaving us?”

They all murmured their assent and began to file out of the room, all except for Ginny. She was looking up at Harry with an intense gaze that was hard to look at. She whispered something to Harry that Draco could not hear, and Harry shook his head in response. Then, she pressed her lips lightly to Harry’s which, for some reason, made Draco’s throat seem a little tight. After throwing Draco an extremely nasty look, she stalked past him and closed the classroom door behind her with a sharp bang. The two of them merely stared at one another for a few moments, neither saying a word. Draco, for one, was unsure of what to say and so decided to wait until Harry broke the silence. Harry leant against a nearby desk.

“So,” said Harry. “There are a lot of things that I want to say to you and I want you to listen.” Draco nodded and Harry then continued. “We’ve known each other for a long time, and there’s a long history of dislike there. I doubt that will ever fully change. The thing is, I’m going to be taking this class a few more times over this term, maybe even more throughout the year, which means that we will be spending a lot of time together. I want to make that time as comfortable as possible for the both of us.” Harry paused for a moment, taking a step forward. “You know, it’s been a long long time since we were last alone.”

Draco stared at him uneasily.

“Uh… yes, I suppose it has…”

“I’m glad we’ve gotten the chance to be alone once again, today,” said Harry. He took a few more steps towards Draco, staring at him with a deep intensity. “It has been far too long.”

“Well…” said Draco, after a long pause. “I’d better be going.”

“Wait! Don’t go! You are perfect.”

“I- I am?”

“Yes,” said Harry, his eyes shining. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you since that day on the platform. Seeing you was such a shock but I…“ Harry blushed. “I liked it.”

Harry lunged forward and gathered Draco up into a tight embrace. The warmth of Harry’s body melted into Draco as it pressed against him, and they were so tightly woven together that Draco could feel every bit of him. Their kiss deepened and Draco could feel Harry begin to explore his body with his hands. He let out a small moan and began to move his hands down to Harry’s waist. He allowed himself to be utterly lost in the kiss. It was wonderful. Finally, he had found the person who made him complete. Harry started to murmur his name.

“Draco? Are you even listening to me?”

Draco looked up, a little stunned. Harry was still sitting on the same desk, not having moved an inch.

“What?” said Draco.

“Look, we have a history but we can’t let that get in the way. We’ll never be friends but we should at least be civil. I think we can both manage that.”

“Yes, of course,” said Draco distractedly. It suddenly dawned on him that none of that had actually happened. It was just a daydream. He suddenly felt very foolish and had a sudden urge to bolt. “Well, I must be going.”

Without waiting for a reply, Draco turned on his heel and tore the classroom door open as he half-ran back to the common room. Thankfully, it was empty when he arrived and, after a quick glance around, he fetched the bottle of Firewhisky he had hidden and poured himself a large glass.

For a while, he nursed the drink as he stared unseeingly into the flames of the fireplace, engrossed in his own thoughts. The memory of what had just happened swirled through his head. He couldn’t understand it, neither the dreams themselves or why they appeared. Perhaps it _was_ something more.

_NO!_

Draco quickly downed the rest of his drink and made his way to dinner. He left the common room with the intent to never think of the memory again. In hindsight, that was extremely unlikely to happen. 

~P~

Fortunately, Draco only had to endure Harry’s presence twice more before the Christmas holidays happened upon them. However, Christmas was no longer exciting to him as it had once been. After all that had happened and feeling as though he had no real family left, he found that he couldn’t enjoy it.

When he was a young child, it had been a wonder every single year to wake up on Christmas morning, run into the drawing room, and find the beautifully decorated tree engulfed by presents. His mother and father would always spoil him and then, later in the day, they would enjoy a fantastic dinner prepared by the servants. In fact, they started to spoil him even more once he had left for Hogwarts which made his trips home for Christmas the highlight of the year.   

This year, however, Draco had decided to stay at school. He was a coward and couldn’t bear to return home and face his mother. Not that he had stopped loving her, for that could never happen. It was just too hard for Draco to see the person he loved most in the world reduced to the shell she had become. To his friends, Draco had said that he wanted to get ahead in his studies. But the real reason for not returning home was for fear of not being able to leave again. His resolve was so fragile that he was sure he’d leave Hogwarts and move back if she asked. The only good thing about not receiving any correspondence from his mother was that he had not been tempted to throw in his education altogether.    

The holidays passed slowly but Draco did not mind, it meant he had more time to be alone. He had come to love being alone, something he had once detested. No other Slytherins had stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas and so he had the entire dormitory all to himself.

On Christmas day, he entered the Great Hall to find that the House tables had disappeared and only one small table had been laid for dinner. Apparently, only three other students had decided to stay over the holidays, one Gryffindor and two Hufflepuffs he did not know. The Gryffindor gave him a disgusted look as he sat down, which Draco did not return. As the meal wore on, he realised to his horror the reason the other students were here was due to the fact that they had all been orphaned by the war and had family left. Draco could not meet their eyes and ate as quickly as he could, jumping up as soon as he had finished.

“Leaving already, Draco?” said Professor Slughorn.

“Yes, I, er, I have some work to get finished.”

“Work!” he exclaimed. “It’s Christmas day!”

“I know,” said Draco, eyes darting about uncomfortably. “I just need to…”

His voice trailed off and he began to edge towards the door.

“Well thank you for coming, Draco,” said Professor McGonagall.

“Thank you.”

He turned on his heel and was halfway across the entrance hall when Professor Slughorn’s voice called to him from behind.

“Just a moment, I’d like a quick word,” said Slughorn.

Draco waited for him to catch up, and Slughorn was slightly red and out of breath when he arrived.

“Well, it has been decided. I didn’t want to tell you until it was confirmed, but you have gotten your wish.”

“Uh, what wish is that, Professor?” said Draco. 

“Your request for a private room, of course. Professor McGonagall has agreed. In fact, it is ready for you now so feel free to move in at your leisure, though it might be better to do so before you classmates return.”

With a hearty goodbye, Slughorn re-entered the Great Hall leaving Draco behind. Finally, something had gone right. Though he had not expected to receive any presents this year, Slughorn had just given him his best yet. Feeling much happier, Draco went back to the dormitory and immediately began to pack up his things.

Soon he had moved into his new bedroom, completely content. In fact, Draco was so happy that he had quite forgotten his woes and, for that, he was glad. He wasn’t even worried about what he would say to Fergus and Blaise when they returned in the New Year. They would just have to accept it. The only downside was one that Draco could not see himself, for he did not even think that anything like that would occur to him.

Unfortunately, it became all too clear later that night.


	8. A New Friend

Draco glanced at his watch to find that it was somehow almost midnight. He had just completed the finishing touches to his new room after hanging his tapestry on the wall. Draco looked around, proud of what he’d accomplished over the past few hours. It was a smaller room than he was used to but Draco didn’t much mind. In fact, he thought it would do quite nicely. Although, he did anticipate the inevitable fallout this would cause between himself and Blaise, but found that he didn’t much care. After all, if the shoe were on the other foot Draco knew that Blaise would have taken this opportunity when it was first presented.

With that thought in mind, Draco decided it was time for bed. He yawned at the prospect before pulling on his pyjamas, brushing his teeth, and getting into his new four-poster bed. With a wave of his wand he extinguished the lamps, leaving only a few whiffs of smoke. Draco turned on his side and closed his eyes, intending to fall straight asleep. However, despite the fact that he was absolutely exhausted, he couldn’t seem to drop off. Draco wasn’t sure for how long he laid there willing himself to sleep, but it seemed like an age.

Then, suddenly, the door to his bedroom burst open. Draco was up like a shot. He grabbed his wand from his bedside table and pointed it at the intruder. A figure stood in the doorway, shrouded in darkness so Draco couldn’t quite make him out. He could feel himself start to shake and tried to will it so that the stranger wouldn’t notice.

“Who are you? What do you want?” said Draco loudly.

The figure took a few, slow steps forward. When the moonlight hit the man’s face, Draco finally saw who it was. He gasped and took a step back, lowering his wand in the same motion. Of all the people Draco expected the man to be, this was the last person he would have thought of. Behind the man’s horn-rimmed glasses his brilliant, green eyes were looking at Draco as though he wanted to devour him. The slight smirk on his face caught Draco’s attention for a moment, but it was the lightning-bolt scar that his gaze lingered on.

Harry Potter took a few more steps forward into the room and leant against the end of Draco’s four-poster bed. He watched as Harry began to absentmindedly play with the emerald, silk hangings that were attached to the nearest post. Draco just watched him, uncertain of what to do. Finally, Draco couldn’t take it anymore and broke the silence.

“How did you get in here?” he asked.

Harry continued to just look at him, his gaze caressing Draco’s body. After a few moments, Harry chuckled under his breath.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” said Harry.

“Yeah,” said Draco, getting rather annoyed. “I would, actually.”

Harry continued to stare at him in silence. Draco could feel himself getting hot with anger.

“Seriously, Potter. What the fuck are you doing here?”

“You’re so passionate,” said Harry, taking a few more steps forward. “I like that.”

“I’m not sure what that has to do with anything… I just want to know how you got in here and why. Then, I’d like you to leave.”

“Leave? Are you sure about that?”

Draco began to tremble. Harry was mere inches from him now.

“Y-yes, I’m sure. Please leave.”

“Well, you see, now we have a problem,” said Harry. He closed the distance between them and intertwined his fingers with Draco’s. “Because I don’t think you want me to leave at all.”

“N-no?” Draco stuttered.

“No. I think you want me to stay. I think that you, Draco, want me to stay right here in this bed.”

With that, Harry sat down and leant backwards, gazing up at Draco hungrily. It was at that moment that Draco noticed that Harry was wearing nothing but some cotton pyjama bottoms that hung from his hips in just the right way. Harry patted the space next to him on the bed and Draco found himself climbing onto it. As he moved forwards, Harry pulled Draco down onto him before rolling them both over so that he was on top. Draco could feel every inch of Harry’s body and felt his body reacting to that. He looked up at Harry and found himself willing Harry to kiss him.

“I- I-“

“Shhhh,” said Harry, cutting Draco off. “This is perfect.”

“But, how did you get here? I- I don’t understand. You haven’t been in the castle for weeks and it’s Christmas. Why aren’t you with your family?” said Draco.

“I’m here because I needed to see you. I had to be with you.”

“Why?”

“I think you know.”

“Oh.”

Harry gazed down at Draco. It was a look he had seen once before, on his ex-girlfriend. When Pansy had looked at him like this, he had felt happy. Of course, it was a wonderful thing to know that somebody loved you. But, the feeling he felt then was nothing in comparison to how he was feeling at this moment.

“Can I kiss you?” said Harry.

“Yes,” said Draco.

A huge smile lit up Harry’s face. It filled Draco’s heart with a wonderful warmth he had never felt before. Harry closed his eyes and bent his head down towards Draco’s, about to kiss him for the first time. Draco couldn’t bring himself to close his eyes and continued to gaze up at Harry. Their lips were now millimetres from each other’s, about to touch.

Draco was jolted awake. He looked up at his silk hangings, confused at what had just happened. It was at that moment that Draco finally realised it had all been a dream. He had never been so relieved in his entire life. He hadn’t dreamt about Harry Potter in months and had no idea what had caused it to happen for a second time. The only change he could think of was his new room. And, as he came to think more about it, he realised that the events of the dream had taken place _in_ his new room.

_Oh, shit…_

He couldn’t give up the room, he wouldn’t. He loved the privacy too much. Draco mulled it over for a while until finally coming to the only solution he felt possible. He would stay in the room and he would just never sleep. It was so simple it was ingenious.

For the rest of the night, Draco poured through the books he had in his room, looking for anything and everything that might help him stay awake indefinitely. By the time dawn had come around he had stopped yawning, though his eyelids did still feel rather heavy. At breakfast he drank five cups of coffee to keep him going throughout the rest of the day. Unfortunately, as it was Boxing Day, the library was only open for a limited few hours. Draco spent every second he could in there looking for things to help keep him awake, as he hadn’t found much in his own books, and vowed to come back the next day when Madame Pince threw him out.

Over the next three days, Draco did all he could in order to stay awake. When he wasn’t spending time in the library he tried to do as many different activities as possible. This included taking a long walk around the Black Lake, re-organising the potions store cupboard for Professor Slughorn, and helping Professor Sprout look after the plants in the greenhouses.

By the fourth day of staying awake, he still hadn’t found much that would help. Draco was relying solely on a mixture of coffee, a few drops a day of an anti-drowsiness potion he had found, and sheer will. He decided to abandon the library for the day, feeling as though he had found and head down into the village for a few hours. McGonagall had told him some weeks ago that he was free to take a trip down there over the holidays if he liked as long as he let her know he was going. Draco hadn’t intended to take her up on the offer but decided that he could do with a drink. The Firewhisky had run out weeks ago.

Draco set off straight after breakfast, wrapped up tightly in a large coat and extremely thick woollen scarf. The temperature was below freezing, and as he entered the village it began to snow. He gave a wry smile and secretly hoped that it would settle. Snow was one of his favourite things in the world.

It was then that Draco really got a good look at the village of Hogsmeade for the first time in months, and immediately the smile slid from his face. Zonko’s and several of the other shops were still closed down. Many of the buildings were still boarded up and the place was quieter than he had ever seen it before. Suddenly, Draco regretted coming. He had been a part of this. Part of the reason the once vibrant village was now all but a ghost town.

However, as Draco pressed on through the village he noticed several things that definitely lifted his spirits. For one, several shops were open for business including the post office and Honeydukes. For another, most of the buildings that had been damaged were either completely repaired or undergoing repairs. And lastly, the Three Broomsticks was as lively as ever.

Of the shops that were open, Draco decided to visit them all. He tried to buy at least one item in each place but found that easier in some than in others. For example, he stocked up on sweets and chocolates in Honeydukes, spending a small fortune to last him for the next few months. Whereas, in Gladrags he struggled to find something he wanted because there was nothing he needed. In the end, he settled on a new satchel.

After going to the Three Broomsticks and stocking up on Firewhisky, Draco started the long walk back to the castle. The snow was falling heavily now and Draco could barely see a few inches in front of his face. He forced himself to keep going, despite his fingers growing numb with coldness. Finally, he saw the winged boars appear not far away and it spurred him on.

By the time he had arrived back, there was only half an hour left until dinner began. Draco traipsed through the Great Hall and down to the dungeons. He dumped his shopping bags onto his bed before taking off his coat and scarf. It was then that Draco noticed that his clothes were slightly damp. He tore them off and pulled on a new pair of jeans. Then, Draco grabbed another jumper, a fresh pair of socks, and some dry shoes before heading down to the common room. There were still another fifteen minutes left until he could go to dinner, so Draco decided to warm himself in front of the fire.

Draco sat on the floor and leant against the side of a chair. This was because he was worried that if he sat in one of the comfortable chairs it would increase the risk of falling asleep. As he looked into the flames, Draco felt himself starting to drift off. His eyes grew heavy and his head began to fall forwards onto his chest. Draco jolted awake and immediately sat up straight. He began to pull on his socks…

_He was standing beside the lake, right at the edge of the forest, on an unusually hot summer’s day. An uneasy feeling crept over him as the eerie silence of the grounds, which were suddenly void of wildlife, continued on. Fog began to settle around him, which was out of place on the sunny day. Draco turned around to return to the castle and was frightened out of his skin to realise that he wasn’t alone._

_"Pansy," he said. "It's only you.”_

_For some reason, Pansy merely continued staring at him in silence, completely unmoving. At first, Draco thought it might be a joke but when the seconds turned into minutes he began to worry._

_"P- Pansy?"_

_She fluttered her eyelashes as if waking from a deep sleep and narrowed her eyes slightly._

_"Draco. The emerald is in the eye of the snake,” said Pansy._

_"Uh, what?" said Draco._

_"The emerald is in the eye of the snake."_

_Pansy paused for a moment._

_"It's ok, Draco.”_

_Pansy looked past his shoulder at something behind him._ _Draco turned to see what it was and somehow found himself in a familiar room. He whirled around to find Pansy but she had disappeared. He was somehow alone in the room of hidden things once more, a place he never thought he'd step foot in again. Draco spotted the large vanishing cabinet not far away and moved forward to take a closer look._

_After inspecting it and finding that it was broken again, Draco took a step back. As he did, Draco saw a figure from the corner of his eye. It made him jump and, assuming it was Pansy, he turned around to face her._

_"Pansy! You've got to stop-"_

_He abruptly cut himself off as he realised that, this time, it wasn’t Pansy.  The boy standing in front of him smiled, his eyes twinkling in the darkness. Harry looked much the same as the last time Draco had encountered him with his untidy black hair and horn-rimmed glasses. Harry flashed him a wide grin._

_"Hello, Malfoy," said Harry, whilst walking towards him. “I hoped I’d find you here."_

_"You- You did?" said Draco._

_"Yeah. I've wanted to get you alone for quite some time now."_

_Harry was only a few inches away from him now and Draco took a shaky step backwards._

_"I, ah, I should probably..."_

_"Go?" said Harry._

_"Uh, yeah I-"_

_Harry closed the distance between them again and put a single finger over Draco’s lips._

_"Well, I-" Draco mumbled._

_"Shhh. Don't think. Don't say anything."_

_Harry softly kissed Draco. Their mouths were pressed lightly together and Draco could feel Harry’s hand resting on his waist. As the kiss intensified, Draco felt Harry's lips open-_

Draco woke abruptly, breathing heavily and drenched head to toe in sweat.

 _Oh shit, shit, shit,_ he thought.

The clock on the mantelpiece showed that there was now only twenty minutes until dinner ended. Not wanting to be alone with his thoughts, Draco rushed back up to his room to change again before sprinting down to dinner. He arrived out of breath with ten minutes to spare before sitting down. One of the Hufflepuffs was still at dinner for which Draco was grateful. Over the holidays, Draco had opted to sit alone at every meal but tonight couldn’t bear the thought of it. He knew that if he did then he would dwell on the dream and that was something he never wanted to think about again. When he sat down opposite the Hufflepuff, the boy gave him a startled look but didn’t say anything. After a few minutes, Draco decided to break the silence.

“So,” said Draco. “Good holiday?”

“Uh, I guess so,” said the boy.

“Nice.”

There were a few more moments of silence before Draco tried again.

“You’re in Hufflepuff right? Fifth year?” said Draco.

“Yeah…”

“And you’re a part of the astronomy club, right?”

“I was, didn’t go back this year. Focusing on exams,” said the boy with a shrug.

“Fair enough, what’re you taking?”

“All the core subjects and then Divination, Ancient Runes, and Arithmancy.”

“Going well?” said Draco.

“Yeah, not too bad. Arithmancy’s a bit of a bitch but other than that it’s alright.”

“Who’ve you got for Divination this year?”

“Firenze, thank Merlin! Trelawney isn’t awful but I don’t think she even knows what day of the week it is most of the time.”

Draco laughed. “Any idea what you’re going to take for N.E.W.T.’s next year?”

“I’m not sure yet but definitely can’t wait to give up HoM finally.”

“Yeah… Binns is hard to listen to.”

“Definitely.”

There was a bit of an awkward pause as the conversation fizzled out.

“Can I ask you something?” said the boy.

“Sure,” said Draco.

“Why are you talking to me? You never have before.”

“I don’t know. I just thought it’d be nice to not sit alone at dinner for once this week.”

“Okay.”

Draco shovelled the last few pieces of food into his mouth and stood up. The boy followed suit and the two of them left the hall.

“What’s your name, by the way?” said Draco.

“Will. Will Knotley.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Draco Malfoy.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Will flashed him a grin which Draco returned. They had reached the turn off for the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room.

“See ya,” said Will.

“Bye.”

Draco watched for a moment as Will walked away from him and then began to make his way down to his own common room. It was then that a thought occurred to Draco and he began to chase after him.

“Hey,” called Draco. “Hey! Will, wait!”

“Yeah?” said Will once Draco had caught up to him.

“Do you fancy hanging out tomorrow by any chance?”

“Uh, sure,” said Will looking thoroughly taken aback.

“Great,” said Draco. “I’ll see you at breakfast then?”

“Sure.”

“Great. See you then.”

With that, Draco turned on his heel and made his way back to the common room with a large smile on his face. He’d made his first new friend in years and it wasn’t a member of Slytherin. Finally, things were looking up.


	9. Wrong or Right

For the rest of the week, Draco spent all of his time with Will. He had given up trying to stay awake at all times as it simply wasn’t working. Unfortunately, this meant that Draco was having the exact same dream involving Pansy and Harry every single night, each time the dream progressing further than the last. Spending time with Will made sure he was distracted and didn’t have the time to think about it at all. In fact, Draco found that the more time he spent with Will, the less vivid the dreams became.

It turned out that Will didn’t have very many friends in general. He wasn’t the most sociable and didn’t tend to gel with people often. Draco thought that must be why they got on so well. In all honesty, Draco doubted that they would be friends if they had met a few years ago, as back then he was an entirely different person.

The first morning the two of them sat together at breakfast, the other two students stared daggers at them for the entire meal. Will later told him that the other Hufflepuff had cornered him in their common room to find out what was going on.

“What did you say?” said Draco.

He was anxious for Will’s reply but was determinedly trying to make sure that his voice sounded nothing other than amused.

“Well, I obviously told him the truth. That you had threatened to hex me if I didn’t pretend to be your friend,” said Will. Draco’s blood turned icy in his veins. After a short pause, Will barked out a laugh. “Actually, I just told him to get his ginormous conk out of other people’s business.”

Draco gave a sigh of relief. The truth was that Draco was constantly on edge waiting for Will to turn around and tell him that their entire friendship had been a long joke, or a trick, or even that he’d simply changed his mind.

For the first week or so after the Christmas holidays, Draco and Will became the subject of many stares and pointed whispered. To his credit, Will seemed to barely notice them. Or, if he did, he never showed it. Draco tried to follow suit but still found it rather irritating. It was odd that he, as the more experienced of the two in dealing with being a topic of conversation, was the one who found it harder to deal with. As a result, they began spending most of their time together out of the eyes of the other students, usually taking over one of the used classrooms on the first floor.

It was February when the next Hogsmeade weekend came around. They decided to go down to the village on the Saturday, anticipating that it would be quieter than the Sunday as it was Valentine’s Day. They met after breakfast in the entrance hall, both wrapped up warmly. Will had brought an enormous umbrella with him which was good thinking considering the fact that it was pouring down with rain.

Despite the rain, Draco found the walk down to the village to be rather pleasant. Will kept up a hilarious running commentary of everyone they passed and kept splashing about in the puddles. Draco found Will’s happy mood to be infectious and joined in.

When they finally reached the village, Draco was rather relieved and couldn’t wait to get into the warm. Because of this, they decided to head into the Three Broomsticks first. Draco ordered them two Butterbeers whilst Will found a table. He found Will relatively quickly as theirs was only one of five tables occupied. After he sat down, the two of them briefly clinked their glasses together and took a sip.

“It’s a bit quieter than I thought it’d be,” said Will.

“Yeah, I know. Thank Merlin for this weather,” said Draco.

“What d’you want to do after this?”

“Need to have a look in Tomes and Scrolls for a book. Also, fancy going to Honeydukes and maybe Scrivenshaft’s. Oh! And I need a haircut so I need to visit the hairdressers.”

“Don’t go to the hairdressers! They rob you blind with those prices.”

“Well, what do you suggest I do? It really needs a trim.”

“I’ll cut it for ya.”

Draco looked quizzically at Will.

“What do you mean you’ll cut it? You don’t know how to cut hair.”

“Yes, I do. I’ve been cutting my little brother’s hair from the age of eight. Yours’ll be no problem.”

“Alright then,” said Draco.

At that moment, the door flew open and in walked the four people he least wanted to see; Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron and Ginny Weasley. Draco turned his head away from the door and stared fixedly at Will.

“What is it?” said Will. Draco nudged his head towards the four newcomers and Will turned his head to look. “Oh, I see. Want to go?”

Draco nodded and the two of them downed their drinks before standing up. They donned their coats and scarves and tried to walk to the door without being noticed. As they walked through the tables, Will accidentally bumped a chair and caused it to make a loud scraping noise. It was then that Harry looked up from his conversation and looked directly at Draco.

“I see the rubbish is taking itself out,” said Ron, extremely loudly.

Draco blushed and hurried to the door.

“Hey, don’t talk to him like that,” said Will.

Draco turned around in surprise to find Ron squaring up to Will with the other’s looking on.

“And who the hell d’you think you are?” said Ron.

“I’m Will. Will Knotley. Nice to meet you,” said Will, holding out his hand.

“Ron, leave it,” said Hermione, pulling lightly on Ron’s arm.

He shrugged her off.

“Don’t be smart with me. Don’t you know who I am?”

“No, and I don’t care.”

Ron’s ears turned red with anger. Draco moved forwards and placed a hand on Will’s shoulder.

“Come on. It’s not worth it,” said Draco.

Will looked at him for a moment before nodding, turning on his heel, and stalking out of the bar. Draco hurried after him. When he stepped outside, he found that the rain had let up so it was barely drizzling. Will was standing a few feet away, still clearly riled up. Draco slowly approached him.

“Are you okay?” said Draco.

“Yeah,” said Will, turning to face him. “It just pisses me off that people think they can treat you like that.”

“Well thanks, but I’m used to it.”

“The point is that you shouldn’t be.”

At that moment, Draco was so incredibly touched that he found himself unable to speak. Tears began to well up in his eyes and he looked away so Will wouldn’t see. He felt Will grip his arm in comfort.

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake,” said Will.

“What?” said Draco.

“Harry Potter’s walking over to us,” said Will.

Draco turned around and saw that Will was right. Harry trudged over to them, pulling his coat more tightly around his body as he walked to protect from the chill. He came to a stop a few steps from Draco and nodded at the two of them. Draco noted that none of his friends were with him.

“Hi, can I have a word?” said Harry.

“Okay,” said Draco.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry about Ron. He’s a bit hot-headed sometimes.”

“It’s alright.”

“Well good.” Harry paused. “Actually, Will, was it? D’you mind if I speak to Draco alone for a moment.”

Will looked at Draco to make sure it was okay and Draco nodded in response.

“I’ll go have a look in Honeydukes,” said Will.

After he had walked away, Harry took a step closer to Draco. Immediately, Draco wished that Will hadn’t left because as soon as he did, Draco couldn’t stop thinking about the dream he’d had the previous night which included Harry. He was imagining Harry’s tongue travelling down his body.

“… so I’ll be there for a month straight starting next week.”

“Sorry, what?” said Draco.

 “I was letting you know that I’ll be teaching your defence class for the next month. I just wanted to give you a heads up.”

“Oh, well thank you. That was very considerate.”

“I also wanted to have a quick word about Will.”

“What about Will?”

“Well, Ginny’s told me how the two of you have recently become inseparable.”

“Yeah?” Draco narrowed his eyes at Harry. He could feel himself grow hot with anger. “What else does Ginny say?”

“Hey! There’s no need to be so aggressive.”

“No? Then have your little girlfriend stop tattling tales about me and my life.”

“She’s just concerned. We all are,” said Harry, his voice rising slightly.

“Concerned about what?”

“We’re concerned that you’re leading him astray. He’s young and impressionable and we don’t want you influencing or manipulating him.”

“How. Dare. You,” said Draco. His voice shook with anger.

“There’s no need to get upset, Draco. You know how you are. I mean, from the outside it looks like you’ve changed a bit but you’ve still got a long way to go. Just, be careful and know that we’ll be keeping an eye on the situation.”

“You know what, Harry? Fuck you.”

With that, Draco turned on his heel and stormed away. He regretted his burst of temper almost immediately but only because he didn’t want them to see that he got to them. Still fuming, Draco darted into a nearby alleyway to cool off. He leant against the side of the wall, breathing heavily. A few seconds later, Will appeared from around the corner.

“You alright? I was watching you from the shop,” said Will.

“Yeah, it’s nothing,” said Draco.

“Well, you looked really angry. What did he say?”

“Just some stuff about you, and our friendship.”

“Like what?”

“That I’m _manipulating_ you and that they’re going to ‘keep an eye on the situation’ or something.”

“That fucker… Where does he get off saying that?” said Will. Draco shrugged in response. “C’mon, let’s go have a word. I’ll give him a piece of my mind.”

“No don’t. Let’s just enjoy the rest of the day,” said Draco.

“Alright.”

They went to Tomes and Scrolls first where Draco found the exact book he was looking for as well as a few extra he took a fancy to. Then they visited Scrivenshaft’s to replenish their ink and parchment, and Draco bought a new quill. After that, Will announced that he needed to visit J. Pippin’s to replenish his potion supplies. Draco made the excuse that he needed to visit the post office so they made plans to meet inside Honeydukes.

As soon as Will had walked off, Draco speed-walked to the Hog’s Head so he could get some more bottles of Firewhisky. He still had three bottles left but was unsure how long it’d be til the next Hogsmeade weekend so decided to play it safe. The entire trip didn’t take him long and Draco found himself waiting in Honeydukes for a good ten minutes before Will arrived.

“Sorry, got a bit caught up,” said Will.

“That’s alright. I still haven’t chosen what I want so don’t rush to pick anything on my account,” said Draco.

It was another fifteen minutes before they left the shop clutching their purchases and headed back up to the school. The walk back was quieter than the walk down. Draco was stewing over his altercation with Harry and noticed that Will was also being far less chatty than usual. He began to worry that Will had finally decided that it wasn’t worth being friends with him.

By the time they reached the castle, Draco was sure that Will was going to walk off without another word. This feeling was affirmed as they strode across the entrance hall in silence and went through the door which led to their common rooms.

“Do you still want to be friends with me?” said Draco.

Will stopped in his track and turned around with a confused look on his face.

“What the hell? Where is this coming from?”

“I just, I know that I’m not the easiest person to be friends with so I’d understand if you wanted to stop being my friend.”

“Draco,” said Will, taking a step closer to Draco. “Don’t be a dick.”

They both cracked up laughing and Draco’s fears were alleviated at once.

“I’m going to go and dump some stuff in my room. Shall we meet in D seven in around thirty minutes?” said Will.

“Sure, see you soon.”

Half an hour later, Draco entered the empty classroom with a bottle of Firewhisky in hand. He’d also brought a few pillows, blankets, and some of the sweets he’d bought from Honeydukes. As he waited for Will to arrive, Draco moved the desks and chairs to the edge of the room. He decided to transfigure a few chairs into a large sofa and turned one of the desks into a coffee table. Draco was just placing the finishing touches when Will walked in. Will closed the door behind him and let out a low whistle.

“Wow, this place looks great,” said Will. Draco smiled. “How long did it take you to do all this?”

“Not long, it’s nothing really,” said Draco with a shrug.

“Nothing? It’s amazing.”

Draco smiled again at that and beckoned Will to take a seat. It turned out that Will had brought with him a portable radio and so they set it up to listen to the Wizarding Wireless Network. Draco placed some enchantments on the door to make sure nobody could get in or hear them from the outside. Will had gotten them some food straight from the kitchen on his way down so they decided to eat there rather than go to dinner. They dug into their meal, laughing at chatting as they listened to the radio.

A little while after their dinner had gone down, Will unexpectedly shot up and grabbed one of the unused chairs before placing it carefully next to the coffee table. He picked up the bag he’d brought and pulled out some scissors and a razor. Draco sat up and leaned towards Will.

“You can’t be serious?” said Draco.

“You bet I am,” said Will. “C’mon, sit your bum down here.”

Draco rolled his eyes and reluctantly sat in the chair. He was sceptical about Will’s skills but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Also, he’d just make a hair growth potion if it went wrong. It felt extremely relaxing. The sensation of Will’s hands brushing through his hair was wonderful. Not too long later, he was finished and Will handed Draco a mirror.

“This actually looks pretty good,” said Draco, admiring himself.

“No need to sound so surprised,” said Will.

“Shut up.”

They both laughed and began to clear away the remnants of the haircut. Draco waved his wand and the hair on the floor instantly vanished whilst Will put his implements away and stacked the chair back against the wall. After they had finished, they immediately slumped back down onto the sofa.

“Man,” said Will, looking at his watch. “It’s half past ten already.”

“Really? That’s gone so fast,” said Draco.

“Tell me about it.”

“Well, I guess we should probably head back to our dorms.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean?” Draco blinked in confusion. “We all need sleep, Will.”

“Yeah, but why can’t we stay here? I definitely don’t want to go back. I’d rather stay here with you.”

Will placed his hand on Draco’s arm and stroked it with his thumb.

“I suppose we could. It might be fun, after all.”

“Exactly.”

Will gave him a wicked grin which Draco returned. He forced Will to stand up and chucked all the pillows and blankets off of the sofa. Then Draco waved his wand and suddenly the sofa became an enormous bed. He threw a few of the pillows back on top, along with one of the blankets and stood back to admire his handiwork.

“There you go,” said Draco.

“Nice work,” said Will, throwing himself on top of the bed. “Very comfy.”

“Good, I’ll just make one up for myself.”

“Why? There’s enough room on here for the both of us.”

Draco gave a short laugh before climbing on, bringing the Firewhisky with him. He poured them both out another glass and leant back against the headboard. They’d only gone through a quarter the bottle but Draco was beginning to feel a little tipsy. Will put his glass on the table and picked up his wand. He pointed it at the radio and the volume decreased so it was almost just a murmur. He gave it another wave and dimmed the lights before placing his wand back on the table. Will laid down on the pillows and looked up at Draco.

“What’re you thinking about?” said Will.

Draco blushed at the question. He’d been thinking about Harry Potter’s lips and warm, wandering hands, extracts from his usual dreams. In fact, he was specifically thinking how he couldn’t wait to delve into that night’s dream.

“Oh, nothing really,” said Draco.

“Then why are you blushing?” said Will.

He propped himself up by his elbow and rested his head on top of his hand.

“I’m not. It’s just warm in here. That’s all.”

“Sure, Drake.”

“It’s true!”

“Whatever. You want to know what I was thinking about?” said Will. Draco shrugged his assent. “I’ll show you.”

In the next instant, Will had placed his hand on Draco’s neck and pulled it closer to his. Their lips met and suddenly they were kissing. Draco could hear Will moan softly and Draco felt himself melt into the kiss. He felt Harry’s hands move down to his hips and pull Draco closer. Finally, they pulled away and Draco gazed at Harry with intense happiness.

“Wow,” said Harry.

“I know,” said Draco.

They began to kiss again, this time Draco knotted his hands into Harry’s hair. When they drew for breath, Draco kept his eyes closed for a moment.

“That really was amazing,” said Draco.

“It was more than amazing. It was perfect,” said Will.

Draco opened his eyes in surprise and instantly realised his mistake. It wasn’t Harry he’d been kissing, but Will. He was sure that he wouldn’t be able to hide his disappointment so Draco turned his head away from Will so that he wouldn’t see his expression.

“What’s wrong?” said Will.

“Nothing,” said Draco, turning his face back to Wills. He’d managed to get his emotions under control. “I’m just so… happy.

Will beamed with happiness and nestled himself into Draco’s arms. Draco looked down at his friend with great affection and guilt. He was the one person who accepted Draco for who he was, and yet Draco had been thinking of someone else during their first kiss.

In regards to the kiss, Draco had no clue where it had come from and was unsure how he felt about it. The truth was that it had been a wonderful kiss, but Will wasn’t the person he’d wanted to be kissing and he didn’t want to ruin their friendship. And yet, the kiss had been rather wonderful. Perhaps Will was exactly what he needed. Whatever happened, Draco knew one thing for sure.

Nothing would be the same again.


End file.
